


The Plight of a Yoshi

by p4ratchet



Series: Smash Vault [6]
Category: Super Mario World
Genre: Bowser - Freeform, Other, Super Mario World - Freeform, Yoshi - Freeform, Yoshi's Island - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-11-12
Updated: 2015-11-12
Packaged: 2018-05-01 08:03:51
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,875
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5198393
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/p4ratchet/pseuds/p4ratchet
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>As the peaceful community of Yoshi's Island is willing to overlook the recent crash site in Dinosaur Land, one Yoshi heads out to investigate, only to have his whole will tested by the Koopa Army.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Plight of a Yoshi

I write this now to decree that I am the only Yoshi left in Dinosaur Land. The Koopa army is strong, and what’s worse is they’ve turned our once peaceful home into a war zone. God curse the day that airship crash landed in our bay. We should have been more careful, should have thought to cast it out entirely. My poor peace loving companions thought it unnecessary and I both pity and curse the fate that has met them. As for me, I have failed to save my son from the clutches of this evil army; I have failed to warn my kin of the threat that lay in waiting. I am a failure to myself and my people.  
I cannot give up entirely, I must cling to the foolish hope my fellow Yoshis had even when they were being imprisoned. I must believe that somehow we’ll be free again someday. Thus I leave here my log in the hope that someone may find learn of my story and put a stop to the Koopa King. My account needs to be made, so all can know the ruthlessness of these terrible creatures.  
It began the day a mysterious airship crashed landed in the bay back in late 1988. We didn’t know what that thing was but it was decided to let the wreckage could untouched, especially as nobody had been harmed. But I couldn’t shake my feeling of dread and, once negotiating a search squad was no longer an option, my curiosity got the best of me and I set out in a small boat. Little had I known my son had stowed away on that boat with me. The kid sure has a brave heart but he was far too young to be out on the lake like this; if only the lake had been the only danger out there that day…  
The ship had seemed deserted but as we were leaving my son cried out and disappeared under the water’s surface. I tried to swim to save him but we Yoshi’s aren’t the most adept swimmers. However it wasn’t the water that had taken him and suddenly, rising from the wreckage, was the creature I would later learn to be the Koopa King Bowser, alongside his seven generals the Koopalings. My son was trapped in the arms of the blue haired one and they were all laughing. The king decreed he was to take this land for himself, but he was not ready to begin his crusade. Knowing for sure he couldn’t let us return to warn the tribe they attacked me and soon we were both imprisoned.  
The creatures were quite resourceful. So soon after the crash they had found a cavern beneath the water and began construction of a castle in the name of Bowser with several smaller fortresses besides. My son and I were locked away separately in that castle where they began experiments on me; apparently they had never encountered a Yoshi before. At the time I wasn’t sure what they were looking for, I could only hope my son wasn’t being subjected to similar gruelling experiments. I had to escape, find my son, and warn the tribe before war swept them away. It was my duty; otherwise they would remain blissfully unaware until it was too late.  
When my chance came, I knocked out the Koopa guards (their shells can certainly hinder them as much as protect them) and raced frantically around the castle in search of my boy. But Bowser was one step ahead… always one step ahead. He and his Koopalings had been waiting for this moment. They had my son caged up in the throne room, under constant surveillance from the king himself. Laughing, the leader of the Koopalings asked if I wanted to see the fruits of the experiments they had done on me. Before I could stop them they blasted my son with a strange contraption and an egg completely encased him. We Yoshi’s can normally break free of our eggs but not this time, this egg was different, I knew from the muffled cries inside my son wasn’t about the break free of this new prison.  
Hope draining from me fast, I had a choice, either escape now and abandon my son for another day, or fight Bowser and his strongest henchman in a vain attempt to rescue him meet certain. I couldn’t leave my son, but I couldn’t save him either. Scared and alone I at that moment knew what true despair was like.  
In the end I didn’t have to make a decision, at that moment the castle was attacked. It seemed some Reznors had found the valley and were now attacking these unfamiliar structures. In the confusion, the blue haired Koopaling snatched my son away as the troupe flew to their battle stations. I tried to follow but a fireball blasted through the throne room and the debris knocked me flying from the castle, knocking me out of consciousness completely.  
When I’d come to, my son was gone and I was alone in this, the Valley of Bowser.  
I knew I had to escape somehow without being spotted. I was far too weak to face anyone head on and his troops had covered a lot of ground in the area. Even if I did manage to make it back to the surface my boat would probably have been taken away and the bay closely watched for any other wandering Yoshis. Therefore I knew I needed to find another way out of here. I knew I had to return home as quickly as possible but my chances were looking slim. Even then I’d have to leave without my son; if I did could I live with my choice?  
I wandered in the shadows of this terrible valley for hours, trying to find an opening where the watch was lax, but with no luck. Frustrated and weak I had to find shelter by the nearest cliff side to recover before I could attempt anything more. Only when I reached my cover a surprise laid in wait for me.  
Hidden between the rocks beside the cliff face, the body of a Yoshi lay broken and mangled in a pile of rubble. It took all my strength not to cry out at the sight. The awful reality of my mortality turned all my muscles to jelly, I felt close to breaking down entirely. I collapsed behind some rocks.  
I’m not certain how long I lay there, allowing the damp air to prey heavily on my chest. I just stared at the ceiling of this vast cave, letting myself be taken by nothingness. Nothingness had become my very existence and slowly I realised I was preparing myself to die here. But there was still that whisper in my ear, the sound of a baby crying with joy, a young boy calling for his father. This wasn’t the time to give up, but it seemed the weight of my reality was keeping me subdued and useless. After what must have been hours, I managed to drag myself to my feet.   
Drained, I reluctantly turned back to the body for a closer inspection. It had been there a while now, long before the Koopa army had made this place their home. It looked as if it had fallen off the very cliff top itself. Poor fella, at least death would have been instant on such a fall. But how did a Yoshi get down here of all places?  
I remembered from my youth a group of Yoshi’s had gone exploring the Donut Plains and, after taking a mysterious pipeline, had returned home to announce that one of their party had gone missing. Afraid of what may have laid in waiting for us there, the Donut Plains were declared far too dangerous for Yoshi kind and the lost soul was never seen again. That is until now. Now this Yoshi was my beacon of hope, a sign that an exit the Koopa’s had yet to find was available to me. All I had to do was climb the face of the immense cliff before me.  
I weighed up the odds. In my weak state it seemed unlikely I’d make it to the top. However likewise to follow the path of Bowser’s army would put me in the direct firing line of danger and would never allow me to reach home in time to warn my people. I had to try. Fearing death was looking for me I began my ascent.  
The climb was hard and once or twice I felt as if I was being watched. The harshness of the past few days was weighing heavily on my mind and a number of times I just wanted to fall to the sweet embrace of death. Fortunately, for my son and the safety of my people, my strength held me long enough and my tongue managed to snag a rock at the cliff top, acting as an anchor to pull myself to safety. Amazed at my efforts, I nonetheless collapsed at the top and stared into the dark roof of the valley. A small flicker of hope set me alight, this darkness would not be my tomb, I would not surrender to nothingness. Two pipes lay far into the distance, revealing my ticket to freedom.  
Yet as close as these pipes were, I realised that the sound of footsteps was closer. With dread I used what little energy I could muster to pick my head up. Sure enough the Koopalings had found me. My ascent must have been watched all along, they must have used their strange clown contraptions to fly up here while I struggled onwards. Or maybe they already knew of this place and I’d allowed naivety to get the better of me. I realised I didn’t care anymore. They’d defeated me and I did not the energy to save myself anymore. Even if I cried out for help, there was only a corpse that would hear me.  
The leader pushed me over face-up with his dirty foot and laughed at my pathetic state. Ordering one of the bigger ones to pick me up they all took one last triumphant jab at me before they dragged me over to the cliff’s edge. Laughter filled my ears as I closed my eyes, I did not want to see my death, I’d let the darkness swallow me whole. They cast me off the side of the cliff. The rush overcame my senses and I released my fear as I spent my last few seconds of life to apologise to the son I could not save…

Yet I found I was coming back to my senses. I felt warm and I realised a soft breeze was blowing over me and the sound of running water was in the distance. I was not dead…This wasn’t the Valley of Bowser I was in either. I opened my eyes but was blinded by the bright light of day. As I stirred I could hear excited whisperings all around me.  
Several Baby Yoshis were surrounding me, giggling away as I struggled to get to my feet. I felt weak and stumbled as I tried to stand up. This stirred the young ones into action and two appeared either side of me to help me up while three more brought forward a platter of delicious fruit. I dove into the food without thought, having eaten nothing but filthy scraps for days. The babies laughed as I wolfed everything down and laughed all the more when I started to feel sick from the overindulgence. I laid back down in complete satisfaction and meant to ask more questions but with a good meal inside me again I felt fatigue take over and I fell into peaceful sleep.  
When I woke up again only a couple of Baby Yoshis had remained by my side. “Good morning Mister, I hope you’re feeling better” one chirped. I could hear the sound of the playground in the air, the laughter so rich and full of life. “Our friends have gone to the waterfall to play but we didn’t want to leave you all by yourself. You looked real tired”.  
“Yeah you looked awful Mister” the other Yoshi chimed in. “But you sure looked funny eating all that food, I thought you were going to be sick and that made me laugh even more.” He began to giggle again and I began to laugh too, but the sounds around me reminded me sharply of the son I’d left behind, and the horrors of my ordeal returned to my mind, feeling like a dull throb in my head. Where was I? How long had I been here? Had Bowser’s army reached Yoshi’s Island yet?  
I began to fire off questions, but realising I was talking to children I had to take a moment to calm down without frightening them. I learned that I was in the Star World, a secret land completely inhabited by Baby Yoshi. They had been there as long as they could remember and playtime was all they knew, but they were never bored and never unhappy. They told me I wasn’t the first creature to appear out of nowhere recently, and that strange creatures wearing shells had also found their way in. They usually played tricks on them but felt bad for it seeing how lost they all were, but with me they thought I looked like I needed some real help and so they took me to their home to rest. They also recognised I was like them but bigger and asked if I was a Yoshi too. I explained to them that we were both Yoshi but they were children and I was grown up. However more serious matters began to weigh on my mind.  
They didn’t know how long I’d been there because they didn’t have any reason to measure time here. They guessed maybe four or five suns had appeared since I’d arrived but they also didn’t count very well. I asked them how I might get out of the Star World and they pointed out five giant stars on the horizon that lay at the corners of this world. They connected this place with the outside world as it was at these places they found all their visitors, including me. I rejoiced but they seemed sad. “You’re leaving already?!” I Apologised but I said my friends were in trouble and that these creatures that had started appearing belonged to an evil army who threatened to hurt them. They couldn’t understand however. So I made a promise to return when I could to thank them properly. This they seemed to respond to better though reluctantly and handing me some more fruit for my journey they waved goodbye.  
I feared I’d been in this magical place for too long, and part of me did not want to leave, knowing that only hard times lay in wait for me outside of this paradise. But as long as the Yoshi’s were safe and sound all hope was not lost. This Star World was our way of stopping the Koopa Army as well as saving my son. If I wound up here, that meant there was an entrance to the Valley of Bowser that even the Koopa King and his army did not know about. With a determined spring in my step I ventured forth for the nearest exit.

The Donut Plains lay before me once more. I had travelled through what seemed a realm of pure light only to have been transported to the world I called home. I could see Yoshi’s Island not too far away. It was a comfort to see my home once more but I also saw much to disturb me. Small fortresses had been erected across the land; Bowser’s seeds had been planted far and wide. Without losing any more time I made my way home, hoping that my island had been spared.   
But as I entered my village my worst fears were realised.  
There were no Yoshis here, only the remnants of them. Only the signs of terror and disorder remained, and the mark of Bowser heavily pressed upon the earth. I felt then that all the wind had been kicked out of me, that I had been punched hard in the stomach and now wanted to curl into a ball with the pain. Imprisoned, scattered, or fled? All I knew was the Yoshi were gone; I was on my own absolutely. Anger took over as I thought of all the faces that once lived peacefully here, who had thought like the Baby Yoshis that they would live in peace forever. But this wasn’t a secret world, this was a real one, where Yoshi can be hurt and beaten and killed.  
I know I cannot give into this feeling of despair for the sake of my son and my people and so I leave this account at my home in the desire that someone might help us expel this evil from this land. As for me, I leave now to god knows where, a failure, alone and utterly beaten.


End file.
